News, views and nihilistic ramblings from Oz Katerji, a London based writer and filmmaker. Contributor for VICE News, BBC World Service, C4News, ITV News, NBC News, AJE, High Times and The Daily Star (Lebanon).

Lebanon: A Brief Timeline of Recent Events

The assassination of Wissam al-Hassan

I began writing this on January the 21st in response to yet another car bomb attack on South Beirut. I am continuously updating the timeline below as the situation in Lebanon continues to deteriorate. I hope that bringing together a list of recent events, starting roughly around the time Wissam al Hassan was assassinated and triggered by the Syrian Revolution, a better picture can be gained of the timeline of escalation for Lebanon’s own civil conflict.

Lebanon: A Timeline of Escalation

03/04/14 – The number of registered Syrian refugees in Lebanon has now reached 1 million, 55% of the total refugees from Syria are now residing within Lebanon’s borders.

03/04/14 – Jabhat al-Nusra member killed at an LAF checkpoint in the Bekaa along with 2 others who were injured.

29/03/14 – 3 Lebanese soldiers are killed by a car bomb targeting a military checkpoint in Arsal.

26/03/14 – An 11 year old child is shot dead by a sniper targeting the Akkar highway in Tripoli

24/03/14 – Violence rages on in Tripoli over the weekend, IEDs and snipers responsible for increasing the death toll which now stands at 26, with over 150 injured

23/03/14 – Violent clashes break out in Beirut between Pro and Anti Assad groups as Sunni unrest continued in the capital killing one and injuring 8.

19/03/14 – An 8 year old is killed in the Tripoli clashes bringing the death toll since the 11th up to 13 dead. A Syrian Helicopter also conducted a raid against targets in Arsal earlier in the afternoon.

18/03/14 – A Lebanese man identified as Ghazi Pierre Tohme was found choked to death in his tailor store in the Baabda town of Hazmieh, in a separate incident, Lebanese citizen Abdel Rahman al-Rifai, nicknamed Abu Draa, was found shot dead in his taxi cab in the Beirut area of Tariq al-Jedideh as Sunni protests sweep the country.

16/03/14 – A suicide car bombing kills 4 Hezbollah members including an officer in the Bekaa valley, Jabhat al Nusra claim responsibility as a response to the “rape of Yabrud”.

16/03/14 – Clashes begin to subside again in Tripoli, with the death toll of the recent clashes reaching 12 including at least one Lebanese soldier. Over 55 have been reported wounded.

25/02/14 – Pro Syrian revolution singer Marwan Dimachkie and writer of the song “Dig Your Grave in Yabrud” found shot dead in his car near Dbaye.

24/02/14 – Israel strikes Hezbollah targets in the Beqaa valley’s Al-Nabi Sheet near the Syrian border. According to the Daily Star 4 members of Hezbollah were killed during he assault. Hassan Nasrallah vows retaliation.

19/02/14 – Twin Suicide Bomb blasts in Bir al Hassan kill 11 and wound 80 Abdullah Azzam Brigades claim responsibility. An Ain al-Helwe man is said to be the bomber, further giving credence to the idea that Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir is returning to power in Ain al-Helwe.

15/02/14 – Tamam Salam forms new government after 10 months, split between March 14th and March 8th alliances.

23/07/13 – 47 killed and more than 400 wounded in two huge bomb attacks in Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli on the Al-Tawa and Al-Salam Mosques. Arab Democratic Party implicated – Youssef Diab arrested in October in connection with the attacks. Youssef Diab reportedly confessed to driving a rigged car to Al-Salam Mosque and detonating it while another member of the Alawite ADP, Ahmad Merhi, allegedly drove the other car and detonated it at Al-Taqwa mosque.

15/07/13 – 14 killed and hundreds wounded by a car bomb in Rweiss, a Shi’ite district of Southern Beirut.

23/06/13 – 41 killed (16 Soldiers and 25 militants) in clashes in the southern city of Sidon between supporters of hardline cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Assir and the Lebanese Armed Forces supported by members of Hezbollah. Fadel Shaker and Assir escape the compound before it is destroyed. Later it emerges that they have set up a new base in Lebanon in Ain al-Helwe Palestinian refugee camp.

09/06/13 – 15 killed in a car bomb in Bir al Abed, a Shi’ite district of Southern Beirut.

02/12/12 – 15-20 Sunni fighters from Tripoli killed in an ambush in the Syrian border town of Tal Khalakh further increasing violence in Tripoli. By the end of 2012 over 80 people died as a result of the clashes in Lebanon’s second city.

19/10/12 – ISF chief and Hariri aide Wissam al-Hassan assassinated in a car bomb in Achrafieh that also kills 7 others. The arrest of Michel Samaha is seen as a motive for his assassination.

9/08/12 – MP and Minister for Information and Tourism Michel Samaha arrested for colluding with Syrian Security Chief Ali Mamlouk to transport explosive devices into Lebanon to be used on internal targets.